Andromaque (1780) is the single tragdie lyrique written by Andre-Ernest-Modeste Gretry (1741-1813). Known above all for his light operas comiques, at the end of his career the composer turned towards an increasingly heroic style in the vein of Mehul and Cherubini. The work reflects the tendency of an age of changes which was torn between a nostalgia for the times of the reign of Louis XIV and the cult of modernity and progress.
Thus, it overlays on the barely altered Jean Racine text of Andromaque (1667) a music already suffused with Romantic aspirations where literally unheard-of tones and accents clothe the passions of the Classical Greek age in a new guise.
Never performed again after its initial production Andromaque today reveals all the modernity of the French school on the eve of the French Revolution and imposes itself without doubt as one of the most singular links between the Baroque and Romanticism.
Since 1987 Le Concert Spirituel has become one of the leading exponents in the performance of baroque music - notably of French repertoire - on period instruments, throughout Europe and across the world.
Le Concert Spirituel is a notable contributor to the continuing revival of the French Baroque operatic tradition through its recordings on Glossa: Boismortier's Daphnis et Chloe, Destouches' Callirhoe, Marais' Semele and Lully's Proserpine are good examples. In parallel to these operas Le Concert Spirituel has been exploring the sacred repertoire of the French early Baroque, especially that of Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
Herve Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel are also responsible for significant interpretations of music by Purcell and Handel (the ensemble played the music of Handel to an audience estimated at around 10,000 in the Parque del Retiro in Madrid and the recording of the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks was the recipient of the Edison Prize in 2004).
Since January 2006, Le Concert Spirituel and Herve Niquet have been in residence at the Opra de Montpellier.
